


The Time is Near

by Emimar



Category: Lord of the Rings - Fandom, The Hobbit
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 17:31:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5057509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emimar/pseuds/Emimar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A part of the twitter shorts series. </p><p>Lyndheid enters the early stages of labour.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Time is Near

Alone in her room, she sang an old song in Khuzdul that she remembered her mother singing first to her and then to Lofnheid when they were young dwarflings. She had been told by others that even though her child was yet to be born, they could still hear what went on around them, and she was singing it for their benefit. She was putting away the woolen blankets that Lofnheid had been working on ever since she had told her sister the news of her pregnancy.

The time of birth was drawing near, now, and over the past few days she had been experiencing the occasional cramp that came and went periodically which Oin and the other dwarf healers had told her she should experiencing now. It started out almost unnoticeable at first, but as time went on they became stronger. Oin had told her to expect this, and not to worry about them, as it was her body’s way of preparing it’s self for the birth.

Mist and Laddie hung around her almost constantly now. They sensed that something was happening with her, and both the sheepdogs had been more fussy with her than usual, not wanting to let her out of their sight. At this time, both dogs were laid on her bed, watching her as she worked. They weren’t her only company today. Kari the raven watched over her from his perch on the bookcase which held some curiosities which she had collected. She frowned, as she noticed them. They would have to be moved out to her library before her the babe was old enough to explore. The familiarity of these animal companions brought her comfort.

As she came to the end of the song, she put the last of the blankets in the blanket chest that Loni had made and gifted to them. Inside the chest there were already a collection of baby clothes of various sizes, mainly for really young babies, and these were ones which had once belonged to Nali and which the lad had now grown out of, and she was happy using them for her own child, for it created a new, stronger bond with her sister.

She noticed the knitted animals that had been stored there and she decided to put them on the shelf above the cot that Kili had crafted for her all those months ago, when he first learned that she was carrying. The shelf had been placed there so that as the child grew, they could see the toys when they were in the cot. The cot itself had been placed here, rather than in a separate room to ensure that it was easier for her to care for the babe at night.

After arranging the toys on the shelf, she closed the lid, and the moment afterwards another one of the cramps swept through her. They weren’t frequent enough to indicate that she was entering labour, but it was strong enough to force her to sit down on the bed. She stroked Laddie’s head to calm her nerves as she waited for it to subside, and the dog thumped his tail at her. She sat there, waiting for the next few minutes to see if another one would sweep through her, but when it failed to come, she realised it was just one of those practice cramps and when she had recovered, she went to Balin’s library, as she had some business to complete there.

Accompanied by the dogs that refused to let her out of their sight, she makes her way to Balin’s library. Kari flapped along the corridor with her, occassoinally behind her, sometimes ahead, perching on the odd unlit torch sconce, candle stand or table top when he could find one. When he was unsure of where she was going, the raven would stop, and wait for her. The dogs, in contrast, trailed behind at her heels. Moving was becoming increasingly difficult for the dwarrowdam now and she felt inagile much of the time. She missed those days when she could move with ease and didn’t suffer backaches and other discomforts that came with pregnancy. Did she regret it? No. It’s only a fleeting thing after all, and she would have the joy of a child at the end of it. She kept telling herself this, even though to her it felt like she had been this way for an entire age. Out of breath, she arrives at Balin’s library. When she gets there it’s quiet and she discovers Balin is making a lengthy inventory of the books it contains. The old statesman doesn’t notice that she’s entered at first, until Kari caws loudly, flaps over to his desk and lands on it, knocking over the bottle of ink he’s using, spilling it all over the parchment he’s writing on. He looks up, glaring at the bird, knowing that he would have to repeat the work over. As he looks up, he notices the dwarrowdam, and gives her a warm smile.

“Welcome, lass. Come, sit yourself down. You look exhausted.”

She approaches him, and the dogs rush forward in greeting, before settling themselves down by the fireplace. Sitting down in the pro-offered chair, she returns her friend’s smile. “I hope Kari didn’t ruin anything important. He acts clumsy, but I have the feeling that he does things like this for his own amusement.”

The raven hops around on the desk, trailing blackbird footprints all over the desk top. Balin frowns at the bird’s antics before answering her.

“I believe that you are correct, my dear. It’s tedious work, but nothing urgent. I could pass it on to one of the younger scribes. Now, how may I help you?”

“I feel silly in admitting to this, for it is something I should have done a long while ago, but I need to come up with a name for the baby. I’ve come up with one for if it’s a daughter, but not if it is male, which is rather slack of me because it’s most likely to be male. Kili did suggest that I choose the name of one of my brothers, or even my father, but those would remind me too often of what happened to them. I was thinking of a name from the Line of Durin, but I need to look into the history. I was hoping that you would be able to help me.”

Balin nods. “I have just the thing. Wait here, and I shall bring it to you.” She waits, watching Kari peck at some quills which were stored in a jar, breaking them in two with his beak. Balin returns, pays no heed to the raven and lays down a large taperstry on to the desk, and unrolls it.

“This should help you. It is old - made when Dis was an infant herself, and was given to us by Bard. You will find that neither Fili, Kili or Dain’s lad is featured on it. Take your time studying it, lass. Would you like some tea?”

She nods, and anwers him vaugely as all her attention goes to the taperstry. “Aye. I would like that.”

Balin leaves her to brew the tea and while he is away, she studies the taperstry in detail, taking everything in. She rules out names on the line that leads to Balin, Dwalin, Oin and Gloin, and she decides not to use Thror or Thrain for the same reasons that she wouldn’t choose the names of her brothers and father, and settles on Fror. That name seemed appropriate. She wondered as she studied the tapertstry what had happened to Thror’s brother, and feels that she must find out, but that would have to wait for some other time. While Balin is away brewing the tea, another cramp works its way through her. It subsides, and she begins to wonder if she should go down to the healing hall to seek Oin, but she decides to wait for Balin to return.

Balin returns, a short while later, carrying a tray of tea and some biscuits. He notices the expression on her face. “Are ye alright, lass? Ye don’t look well.”

“I’ve been having these cramps on and off all day, but they’re becoming more frequent. I had one just now, and I had one before I cam to see you. When we’ve drunk this, do you think that you can help me down to the healing halls? I think it’s time I saw Oin.”


End file.
